


Add a Little Pepper

by Depressed_Ricecake



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Dark Magic, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Fiction, Harems, Interracial By Fantasy Standards, M/M, Magic-Users, Magical Artifacts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 18:51:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21041060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Depressed_Ricecake/pseuds/Depressed_Ricecake
Summary: Pepper Polline is a demon girl that was born to an otherwise entirely human family in an almost entirely human district. Due to the stigma that her demonic features carry, she grew up an unhappy and unwanted child. However, not having friends gave her time to do other things; Like hanging out at the magic shop near her school, and practicing spells with the kind old shopkeeper who didn't mind her horns.One day during a class field trip to an ancient ruin, an innocent mistake causes the release of a powerful evil spirit named Cad. This prompts a quest for the only one who has an inkling of how to seal him again--The Ancient Hero. The only problem is no one knows who The Ancient Hero is, or where to find them.Along with a few others, Pepper volunteers to go on this quest, finally leaving behind the family that mistreated her in search of adventure. With a heart full of anxiety and only a few mastered spells in her arsenal, she sets forth into the vast expanse of Zisos, a land made up of many rich cultures and races. She'll pick up a few interesting friends along the way, and maybe even find romance.What could go wrong?





	1. Chapter 1

It was the fifth thing she had done wrong this week.

Pepper Polline stood stock still with her hands entwined sheepishly in front of her. The tiefling, or demon, girl's pink skin was turned even pinker from shame, and her black eyes were down-turned.

Her mother, Vyella Polline, was shouting as she loomed over her daughter. A human woman with curly black hair, dark brown skin, almond eyes and a pretty face that was always quite stern. She was an even more intimidating sight than usual as she was trembling from anger.

The kitchen they were standing in, usually a spotless and monotone oak wood room was now a rainbow, with splatters of food and torn pieces of brightly colored cloth strewn across the floor. The dark red curtains that were always drawn were now ripped to pieces, hanging by mere threads, and the table stools were knocked onto their sides, with one stool even missing a leg. The rest of the house was in a similar unfortunate state.

"I told you to lock up the doors before you left for school! Now look," scolded Vyella through gritted teeth. Her trembling fists were by her sides. For now. "Those nasty goblins raided the house, again! And it's your fault. Again!"

Vyella paused, seemingly waiting for a response to a question she never asked. Pepper opened her mouth to speak, before being interrupted.

"I do not want to hear your wretched voice," her mother hissed. "Clean this mess up. Then, and only then, will I hear what you have to say for yourself. Get to it. Now!" She exaggerated the last word by stomping her foot loudly. The sound was so loud, the force of it reverberated off the walls and caused the floor to shake.

Pepper flinched, her sensitive ears ringing. Vyella then turned on her toes and marched out of the hall house.

Still a bit shell-shocked, Pepper stood among the mess in utter silence, like the quiet after a storm. She surveyed the room before tentatively taking a step towards the small broom closet located in the farthest corner of the kitchen. She only managed to take a single step before a squelching sound was heard under her shoe.

"Disgusting," she groaned. Sighing heavily, she made the executive decision to ignore the noise as she continued towards the broom closet. Opening the familiar door, she pulled out the even more familiar broom, it's ends frayed from constant use.

Turning around to face the kitchen, trusty tool in hand, she paused again at the sight before letting out another exasperated sigh.

This was her sixth attempt at the arcane lock spell, and yet again she had failed at it.

Pepper mumbled to herself as she absentmindedly cleaned the mess. "Perhaps the bone dust wasn't as high-quality as that merchant said. Sly fox. No wonder it was so cheap," she marveled. Being the immature age of 16, she suddenly realized that she was a lot easier to fool than she had given herself credit for. "I'll have to write that in my notes."

All she knew was that next time she tried this spell --And there most certainly would be a next time-- she would need to shell out a bit more money if she expected it to work.

Lost in thought, she cleaned the mess rather quickly, as she had done what felt like a hundred times before.


	2. Chapter 2

School began a little after dawn.

The School of Edunarth was the place Pepper trudged to every morning. It was a chore to go, because it was always so boring. 

She had always had an interest in learning about magic, but much to her chagrin, that was not taught at her school. The town of Antimur was an almost entirely human settlement -- and magic not being a skill that many humans had -- magic and anything to do with it was considered unnatural. 

Edunarth was the kind of school where athleticism was valued above all else. Graduating from Edunarth usually left it's students with a few choices; If you excelled at fighting or athleticism, you usually applied to become part of the town guard or if you especially exceptional, a soldier of the army of Zisos. However, if you weren't good at those things, you weren't given much help in the way of figuring out what to do with your life, so you either become a farmer or moved away.

It was the only school in the area, so she was forced to attend. The only subjects she had a sliver of interest in learning were herbalism and history. Her favorite teacher, Professor Jamril taught those courses. Jamril was a kind man with beautiful blonde hair past his ears, and crystalline blue eyes that always seemed to sparkle whenever Pepper found herself staring into them. And that was quite often. 

He seemed to be one of the few in this small town that understood Pepper. Being a half-elf himself, he somewhat understood what it meant to be "different" in Antimur, and he sympathized with her. And because of that, Jamril was a bit sweeter with Pepper than his other students. Which only helped nurture her ever growing infatuation with the man.

The different subjects were each taught on a different day, as there weren't enough teachers or students to justify doing a full day of school. On Monday was Herbalism class, Tuesday was Animal Handling, Wednesday was Athletics, Thursday was Survival, and Friday was History. Thankfully today was Monday, so it was a class that Pepper enjoyed.

As Pepper walked up the forest path to the school, she spotted a group of other students further down. With her demonic eyes, she was able to see from quite far distances, and could recognize the students from even this far away. It was the group she lovingly referred to as the "Snake Squad", consisting of Charlotte, Nayte, and Kai.

Charlotte Berrly was a girl with short brown hair and a face like a bird. At 15 years of age, she was well known for being especially nasty to the other girls in the town and cozying up to the boys. She isn't particularly pretty or talented, but her mother was the captain of the town guard, which made it so that other children and even some adults feared angering her.

Natye Seamaul was well known at Edunarth as the richest boy in town. At 17 years, he was quite short for his age, and had a distinct mop of curly blonde hair on his head. He made up for his meek stature by taunting his wealth at others. He was the type of kid that was easily susceptible to peer pressure.

And worst of all was Kai Velderwood. Despite being quite handsome with his ginger hair, high cheekbones and straight nose, he was feared by most of the other kids at Edunarth. He often picked fights with weaker students as a show of power. He seemed to particularly enjoy torturing Pepper and would often intimidate other kids into joining in on the bullying.

Charlotte, Nayte and Kai were the worst people in all of Antimur, in Pepper's opinion. They tormented her everyday in school, and even outside school. Which is why it was always considered an unlucky day when she crossed their path.

Seeing as they had not noticed her behind them, she quickly stopped in her tracks. Pepper considered waiting until they were out of sight, but they were walking quite slowly already, and she realized that she'd be late for school if she did that. She could follow quietly behind them until they reach school, but that would risk them noticing her and she wouldn't want to imagine what they would do to her when they realized she was trying to sneak behind them. Neither option was appealing, but she'd rather not be late. So for now she would follow quietly.

The Snake Squad were joking and laughing at something Kai was waving around in his hand. It looked to be sheets of paper, but Pepper couldn't make out what was written on it. She could only hear bits of their conversation from this far away.

"...be hilarious when..." Kai was saying humorously. "I....wait!"

Pepper strained her ears to hear.

"Do you think she'll cry when she sees them?" Nayte with a voice that was little high pitched and therefore easier to hear, spoke next. "What if we get in trouble with the teacher?"

Pepper could feel a sense of dread crawl up her spine. They couldn't be talking about me, could they? she wondered.

"Stop worrying. Even if Professor Jamril has a problem with it, it's not like he'll do anything to us," sneered Charlotte. "He's as afraid of me as the other teachers. We don't have to worry about him."

Kai bellowed out a laugh, then slung his arm around Charlotte. "That's why I like you, Charlotte. You're not afraid to use the power you have, unlike other girls. Jamril is going to get what's coming to him one these days. And I have a feeling you'll be the one to deliver it." They continued to talk like that, with Nayte awkwardly walking alongside them like a third wheel.

The trek to school passed by slowly, with Pepper being forced to listen to their chatter the entire time, but it gladly went by with no problems. She waited for the Snake Squad to enter the school doors first, then waited a few minutes before walking in herself.

Edunarth was a rather meek looking building. With a brown tiled roof, and wooden walls, it was a two story school house with a field in the back for outside classes, and a forest surrounding the property. 

After what she considered was a safe amount of time, Pepper opened the doors. Like usual, she walked to her desk and placed her schoolbag and books down. But instead of sitting down, she walked directly to the other end of the classroom and out the double doors that let to the field. Seeing as today's topic was Herbalism, they would be having class outside.

With the Snake Squad's conversation still in fresh her mind, she braced herself as she joined her classmates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am breaking out all the lame tropes. I love lame tropes and damn it all if I can't have them in my own trashy story.


	3. Chapter 3

Stepping outside, Pepper was greeted by the sight of all the students in her class. There were twenty, to be exact. She didn't know the names of all of them, but they were all familiar. Naturally, many of their eyes were drawn to Pepper's colorful appearance. Among those were the Snake Squad, who immediately sneered upon seeing her. Professor Jamril also looked over, smiling warmly as always, his smooth hair shining in the early morning sun. She immediately returned his smile, feeling the urge to walk over to him.

Instead, she decided to join one of the classmates she got along with, Braeden.

Braeden Gavisol was a scrawny boy of 14 years with short sandy brown hair that always had a strand that would stand straight up. He was as into learning magic as she was, and they bonded over that shared interest. They practiced spells together after school sometimes, when she was able to go to his grandmother's hut. Braeden's grandmother was known as the "crazy old lady that lived on the edge of town", but to Pepper, she was the loving mother figure she wish she had.

"Hey, Braeden! Learn any new spells over the weekend?"

Braeden was sitting on a tree stump hunched over his notebook. He glanced up, then stood, so he could greet her at eye level.

"Hi, Pepper. And yes, I did, actually."

"What? Really? Which one?"

"Do you know the Dancing Lights spell?"

Her eyebrows raised in surprise. "I know of it, yes. That's what you were trying to cast? How did it go?"

He glanced from side to side, checking to see if the coast was clear. Deciding it was safe, he used the book he held to block his hand from any wandering eyes, and cast the spell.

Four softly lit globules of blue light sprouted from his hand, and hovered above his palm. He grinned at her, clearly proud of his hard earned progress.

She gasped, and as if on instinct, reached out to touch the light. Her hand phased through and she tripped forward, crashing into Braeden.

The spell immediately fizzled as he lost his concentration fell backwards, with Pepper landing awkwardly on top of him, and the book wedged uncomfortably between them.

Subsequent snickers could be heard, but both magic-users were too embarrassed to knowledge them.

Not wanting the awkwardness the lingering on, Pepper quickly stood up and extended her hand out for Braeden to take. He accepted her help gracefully, though his face was just as red as hers.

Pepper began to dust herself off, apologizing for her clumsiness. "It was so beautiful I felt like I had to touch it, you know? Of course, I cant' even do that right," she said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

"I-I get it. I was pretty amazed when I first did it too," Braeden shook his head and smiled, still pink in the face. "Just make sure you keep a 5 foot distance from me at all times. That way if you fall, I don't go down with you."

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny. Now I'll stick extra close to you. Just out of spite," she joked back.

Just then, Professor Jamril clapped twice, loudly. "Class," he called "Gather over here. We're going to begin today's lesson."

The mob of students gradually shifted over to where he had directed them.

"Now," he began, after he made sure he had everyone's full attention. "As I'm sure you all know, today we will be going to the Puzzlewood."

He paused as exasperated groans echoed through the class.

"As I'm sure all of you already know, the Puzzlewood can be quite dangerous if you are not careful. So I will need everyone to pick a partner. You will be responsible for each other on this trip, and if one of you does something troublesome, you will BOTH be punished. Now, quickly pair up."

Pepper wasted no time in grabbing hold of Braedan's shirt sleeve, tugging it slightly. She looked at him imploring, to which he only gave a short word of a agreement in response, avoiding her eyes.

After a minute or two, everyone had paired up. 

"Remember everyone," Professor Jamrill called out to the class again. "Straying from your partner is strictly forbidden. Stick together."

And with that, he started into the thick brush of the Puzzlewood, the students following in pairs behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short. I just wanna get to the meat of the plot, you know?


End file.
